A History of Student Activities, 1997-2000

Compiled by Sarah Finger

1997

Feb 7

A public Judicial Council hearing begins to investigate charges brought by Community Council against former Community Council Chair L.G.. G. is charged with spending for personal gain, forgery, spending outside the Master Budget, and spending without the approval of Community Council. Charges were brought late Spring of 1996, but were postponed while G. was on leave. [The Forward: February 12, 1997]

Feb 19

Students band together to discuss rumors that Hampshire is cutting essential programs. [The Omen, Feb 19,1997]

Mar 3

Over 40 students become involved in a UMass protest supporting the UMass student building takeover demanding the University be more accessible and responsive to the needs of students of color, low income students, first-generation students, and students with children. Three Hampshire students join the students inside the building. [The Forward: March 12, 1997; The Omen: Mar 8, 1997]

Mar 11

At a Community Council meeting FiCom Chair Nat Irons and FiCom member, Dan Gregor bring charges against Community Council Chair, Wil Doane, for allegedly modifying the Council bylaws without approval, as well as Seth Mills-Cannon, Council Parliamentarian, for negligence. Mills-Cannon claims the charges are personally motivated. [The Forward: April 2, 1997]

Mar 12

Hampshire musicians complain about the lack of practice space on campus and call for the soundproofing of FPH 101 and 102 where they have been given storage space and permission to practice in the evenings. [The Forward: March 12, 1997]

The Judicial Council makes a ruling on the L.G. case. The Council recommends that G. pay back $1814.40, be placed on disciplinary probation, have a note of the incident put on his transcript, and not be able to hold positions of financial responsibility on the campus. They also make recommendations on revising financial procedures of Community Council. [The Forward: April 16, 1997]

Mar 25

Four members of Community Council, students Alexis Eynon, and Seth Mills-Cannon, and staff Sarah Reeves and Steve Berube, resign. They express their dissatisfaction with the process that took place at the previous meeting on March 11, saying that it was personally motivated, secretive, and improperly carried out. [The Forward: April 2, 1997]

Apr 2

Marijuana plants are confiscated from a student's room in mod 49 in Enfield by the Amherst Police Department and Public Safety after it was discovered she was running a "marijuana growing operation." No arrests are made. [The Forward: April 2, 1997]

Apr 30

Nine Division III students publish two letters stating they are unhappy with many decisions made by President Greg Prince including staff firings, pet policy, alcohol policy, union busting techniques, and marginalization of minority students. They claim that Prince has assembled an administration that consistently lies to students and reverses agreements without consultation. To protest these injustices the students refuse to shake hands with Prince at graduation, as well as wearing buttons, or arm bands, and distributing literature. [The Forward: April 30, 1997]

June 15

The National Yiddish Book Center opens at Hampshire. The Center was created by Aaron Lansky (F70), and will become a part of a group of cultural centers President Prince plans to establish on campus. [The Forward: April 30 and October 2, 1997]

June 28

Most of the sheep at the Farm Center are sold at auction due to poor health and wool quality; rumors of a disease "outbreak" spread to the community. [The Forward: September 18, 1997]

Sept 18

Professor David Kerr starts a lending library in the middle of Donut 1 in Greenwich. The library is open for the community to use, books are available to take, and the only rule is return the books or pass them on to others. [The Forward: September 18, 1997]

Sept 19

A teach-in is held about the staff union movement at Hampshire College. Community members gave five minute speeches about a variety of issues surrounding unionization. After the teach-in many participants carried signs to the all-community clambake to show support for the union and to request administrative neutrality. [The Forward: October 2, 1997]

Oct 3

A celebration of Eqbal Ahmad's contribution to Hampshire and the world takes place. Ahmad is leaving Hampshire after 15 years as a Professor of Politics and Middle East Studies, to return to his native Pakistan. [The Forward: October 16, 1997]

Oct 16

The Green Core work-study program is a month old. The program allows students to do work-study through environmental activism, including the school-to-farm program, campus outdoor trail maintenance, campus gardening, and other environmental studies programs. [The Forward: October 16, 1997]

Oct 28

Rebecca Saunders, Community Council Chair, resigns, citing academic work and an ineffectual relationship with Dean of Student Affairs Bob Sanborn as reasons. Saunders was elected Chair after Will Doane resigned following accusations of illegally modifying Council bylaws. Co-chairs Jenny Donovan and Peter Lull will take her place. [The Forward: November 13, 1997]

Nov 2

Mixed Nuts Food Co-Op, struggling with financial troubles, holds a meeting to discuss the problems. Of 200 members only 20 show up for the meeting. Mixed Nuts is marking up food prices and paid managers took a pay cut. [The Forward: November 13, 1997]

Nov 13

A Constitutional Reconciliation Committee is attempting to produce a constitution that can be passed by Community Council, the Faculty, and the Board of Trustees. After six years of failed attempts by larger bodies, they hope to have a new draft by December 5 for the Trustee meeting. [The Forward: November 13, 1997]

A few dozen students, pro-union staff members, and union supporters participated in a "tug-o-war" protest organized by the Student Action Organizing Committee. Protesters want President Prince to refrain from spending college money and time in attempts to discourage the union. [The Forward: February 5, 1998]

Feb 5

A vote is taken on the staff unionization (last Friday). The professional staff vote against being included in the union, and the non-professional staff votes were tied with a number of challenged votes due to the voters' job descriptions. The tie and disputed votes will be settled in a National Labor Relations Board hearing in the upcoming weeks. [The Forward: February 5, 1998]

The trustees approve the plan for school reorganization into three core schools and two experimental schools. The core schools will be Natural Science, Social Science, and Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies. The two experimental schools which will be reviewed after two and five years will be Cognitive Science and Interdisciplinary Arts. The plan will affect the Division I structure starting with a transitional year beginning in the Fall of 1998. [The Forward: February 5, 1998]

During the final weeks of last semester bands were informed by a note on the door of FPH that they would no longer be able to practice because of noise problems. After complaining band members were told that they may practice after 11pm. The problem of disturbing nearby students has still not been resolved and no solutions have been found. [The Forward: February 5, 1998]

Feb 14

An anti-Semitic poster is placed on the door of a student in Merrill A. Public Safety is investigating the incident. [The Forward: March 5, 1998]

Feb 19

Div III student Emily Kellert, publishes a letter asking for the community to help with the Yurt project after recent vandalism. A lock was placed on the yurt door to prevent further vandalism, but Kellert asks for the community's help to keep an eye on the yurt. She also asks for help with fundraising and construction in order to complete the yurt this semester. [The Forward: February 19, 1998]

After a system failure of Hampshire's UNIX server, hamp, the problem has be found and hopefully fixed. The system was being used to send unsolicited "spam" email by a user, possibly off campus, which was overloading the system. [The Forward: February 19, 1998]

Mar 5

Over the past several months Public Safety has received reports of prank phone calls being made by a male who pretends to be an acquaintance of the victim, or heavy breathing. Smith and Mount Holyoke have reported similar problems. [The Forward: March 5, 1998]

Apr 2

Meredith Michaels resigns her position as Associate Professor of Philosophy, unaware that this decision forfeited her other position as Dean of Cultural Studies. Michaels does not support the school's plan to combine Cultural Studies with Humanites and Arts as a single department. [Forward: Apr. 16, 1998]

Apr 16

Students vote in favor of charging 25 dollars to each tuition bill to go into an endowment for the building, maintenance and programming of a community center. [Forward: April 16, 1998]

Apr 25

Eric Davis, 20, of Springfield is arrested by Amherst Police upon the report of a disturbance in Mod 58. Shortly after the arrest Davis is charged a sexual assault committed on campus. [Forward: April 30, 1998]

Sept 17

According to Forward editor Gus Andrews, the newspaper is in desperate need of contributors and may otherwise cease publication. [Forward: September 17, 1998]

Oct 2

Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, lectures at Hampshire at the annual Eqbal Ahmad lecture. [The Omen: October 2, 1998]

Oct 9

A student's car was broken into and had its stereo stolen while parked in the Greenwich lot. The owner of the car writes a letter to the editor demanding that the parking lot be lit. [Forward: October 9, 1998]

Students living in Enfield report cases of head lice. Although only one student has gone to Health Services and checked positive, many are seeking self-treatment. [Forward: October 21, 1998]

Oct 30

A group of students submit an open letter proposing the removal of the head of student affairs, Bob Sanborn.
[The Omen: Oct 30, 1998]

Nov 7

Filmmaker Michael Moore speaks at the University of Massachusetts. Debate ensues over whether Hampshire can refuse to order clothes made in sweatshops because the students are rich or because the school is poor. [The Omen: Nov 7, 1998]

Nov 13

The Housing Advisory Committe has proposed a new rule stating that anyone who participates in the lottery who is not going to be at Hampshire next semester will be reprimanded.
[The Omen: Nov 13, 1998]

Nov 20

Forty-seven Hampshire students travel to Fort Benning and join 7,000 other protesters to demand that the School of the Americas be shut down. [Forward: December 4, 1998]

More then 60 students "sang and made merry" around an illegal fire on campus; the director of Public Safety later warned that "such events are dangerous and ?might get people stirred up.'" [The Forward: February 24, 1999]

Feb 24

Students band together to figure out a way to restore the Greenwich windmill. [The Forward: February 24, 1999]

Mar 25

Dr. Bob Sanborn, Dean of Student Affairs resigns to take a position as Vice President of the University of Tulsa; many students indicated that they felt "Sanborn was hindering a lot of progress that Hampshire could be making." [The Forward: March 31, 1999]

Mar 31

Community Council at-large representative, Faiysal AliKhan resigns citing an inability to effect change in six months as a member of Community Council. [The Forward: March 31, 1999]

Marriott begins renovations of the Dining Commons; the renovations will include retooling the kitchen, expanding the loading dock, moving the salad bar, and installing booths. Marriott is also looking into extending the hours of the operation for the dining commons and the Bridge Cafe. [The Forward: March 31, 1999]

Financial Aid is consistently over budget, despite a call from the trustees to cap spending. [The Forward: March 31, 1999]

Sep 9

A first-year student trashes his room and begins walking home to Baltimore after doing five hits of acid at a party the night before; he shows up two days later having made it to a friend's house in New York City. [The Forward: October 22, 1999]

Sep 21

Sander Thoenes (F87), journalist and Hampshire alumn, is shot and killed by an anonymous militant while on assignment in East Timor. [The Forward: October 22, 1999]

Oct 28

President Greg Prince purchases a $10,000 hand-made bible, by Hatfield artist Barry Moser, for the Center for the Book. The purchase results in a $20,000 donation to the Center for the Book. Students are outraged at the purchase. [The Forward: February 18, 2000]

Nov 11

The Housing Advisory Committee changes housing policy so that mods losing quorum after the deadline will forfeit their mod for the next spring lottery; 19 mods are scheduled to go up for lottery next spring. An all-mod lottery plan is also being discussed. Many students are upset by the change in housing policy. [The Forward: November 11, 1999]

Nov 18

An emergency all-community meeting is held in the RCC to discuss recent assaults in the Five College area. Between November 1 and 18 two rapes occurred by the UMass pond, a woman was assaulted by three men near the pond, a woman was grabbed at the Smith College bus stop, and two women were chased at Amherst college. Over 700 students, faculty, and staff show up for the all-community meeting. [The Forward: February 4, 2000]

2000

Feb 4

Seven yellow emergency call boxes begin to go up around campus; the call boxes were scheduled to be up before students arrived the previous fall. [The Forward: February 4, 2000]

A group calling themselves "The Red Flag" begin publishing articles in The Forward addressing "the practices of this college"; hoping to create discussion, raise awareness, and promote change within the community. [The Forward: March 8, 2000]

Feb 11

UMass Police Department receives four more reports of sexual assaults over the period of February 4-6. [The Forward: February 15, 2000]

Feb 17

Mixed Nuts Co-op reopens after being closed since November due to a clogged and backed up sewer pipe in the Prescott Tavern. [The Forward: February 18, 2000]

Feb 27

Timothy Shary gives a lecture about Hampshire history and his compilation, A History of Student Activities and Achievements at Hampshire College, 1969-1990, which was commissioned by Community Council in 1990. [The Forward: March 8, 2000]

The Omen puts up posters advertising for their next meeting and requesting submissions. The poster contained an image of a naked anime-style character. Most of the posters are torn down the same day. [The Omen: March 11, 2000]

Feb 29

The Omen puts up the posters again, this time other students respond with a poster placed over the Omen's poster stating that negative images of women will not be accepted on campus and by writing on the poster; resulting in a number of other posters around campus for weeks to come addressing images of women, race, and issues of censorship. [The Omen: March 11, 2000]

Community Council meets and decides to send a warning to The Omen, on account of the posters, about violating community norms and The Omen group charter. [The Omen: March 11, 2000]

Mar 2

COCA holds a service auction in the Dining Commons to raise money and awareness about financial aid. [The Forward: February 18, 2000]